DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Has $11.11 Million Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 72.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 302,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,911 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in NiSource were worth $11,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.88. The firm has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.60 and a 1-year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.